24:The Longest Day
by CollegeAuthor
Summary: What seems to be nothing, turns out to be another horrifying and long day for Jack Bauer. Takes place between seasons 2 and 3. Jack,Tony,Michelle,David Palmer centered. I do not own the rights to 24.
1. Chapter 1

_(This story takes place between seasons 2 and 3 of 24, about one year after season 2)_

**The following takes place between 6pm and 7pm. **

**Events occur in real time. **

Jack Bauer leaned back into his chair, cupping his face in his hands. He was exhausted and couldn't wait to go home. He had been at work all day, trying to follow a lead on the attempted assassination of President Palmer. One of CTU's sources had sent evidence that the assassin was in L.A., but the lead had turned up no useful information. Just as Jack was about to grab his jacket and punch out, Tony came into his office.

"Hey," Tony said, leading up against the frame.

"Hey." Jack said. "What's up, Tony?"

"Nothing really. We have nothing to confirm that the assassin is in Los Angeles, so Chappelle wants to drop it." Tony said, sighing.

Jack sighed. "Okay, well if anything turns up-…"

"Chappelle will let us know. I'm going home, I'll see you tomorrow." Tony said, cutting Jack off.

Jack nodded, and Tony walked out of Jack's office and into his own. Michelle was standing on his desk, fidgeting with a screw driver in the ceiling.

"Michelle…." Tony said, laughing softly.

"I'm just changing the light, Tony. It's been driving me crazy for two weeks." Michelle said, smiling at her husband.

"Michelle, there are people in maintenance that do that-…" Tony began.

"There are, but_ you_ keep forgetting to call them. And I know how to change a light, Tony." Michelle said, raising her eyebrows at him.

"I know you do, but-…" Tony began

The whole light panel came undone and fell into Michelle's arms. She lost her balance, and fell backwards, falling directly into Tony's arms. Tony held his wife, as people from downstairs looked up into his office to see where all the noise was coming from. Chappelle came running into the office, to see what all the commotion was about.

"What the hell is going on in here?" Chappelle shrieked.

Tony, still holding Michelle under her knees and her back replied. "Michelle was changing the light…"

Chappelle still had a look of torture on his face. Tony and Michelle were trying to hold back their laughs.

"I told you this before, and I'm telling you again, if you two can't keep your relationship out of the office-…" Chappelle began.

"Ryan, that could have happened to anybody." Jack said, as he walked into Tony's office. He too, was trying hard to choke back laughter.

"Yeah, oh yeah, Jack I'm sure it could have. I'm sure every employee in this joint goes around, trying to fix the lights." Chappelle said sarcastically.

Tony and Michelle exchanged glances, knowing how stupid this sounded. Jack looked down at the floor smiling.

"Just, just, all of you just punch out. And be reachable, if anything comes up on the Palmer hit, I need the three ranking agents to come here immediately." Chappelle said, walking out of the office.

Tony, Jack, and Michelle nodded. Tony looked at Michelle, who was still in his arms, and put her down, so she could stand up.

"Alright, new rules. No cooking, no changing light fixtures, Mrs. Almeida." Tony said, pointing his finger at Michelle.

Michelle smiled and looked down. Jack smiled, leaving the office.

"Hey, Jack," Tony said.

Jack turned around and looked at Tony. "Thanks."

Jacked smiled and looked down. "No problem, see you guys tomorrow."

Jack left the office and headed downstairs. Chloe O'Brien was fighting with Adam Kaufman, _again_.

"And for the third time, Chloe, don't touch my system!" Adam yelled.

"Well, I wouldn't have to touch your system, _Adam_, if you did it right in the first place!" Chloe yelled back.

"Hey, hey, hey," Jack intervened. "Stop."

"Jack, Chloe's been-…" Adam began.

"Look, Adam, I don't care. Tony's got his team and I've got mine, but we're all one roof. If we you two can't get along, Chappelle will chew out both your asses." Jack said.

Adam nodded and turned back to his system. Chloe gave him a dirty look.

"Are you leaving, Jack?" Chloe asked.

"Yeah, why?" Jack asked.

"Just wondering if it's appropriate and all, since there's an assassin in LA and all." Chloe said.

"Chloe, my shift ended four hours ago. Tony and I have been following this all day, nothing's come up. We'll be reachable." Jack said.

"Okay, you don't have to yell." Chloe said, though no one was yelling. Jack rolled his eyes, and headed for the parking garage.

#####

6:16pm

Dr. Packard wheeled President Palmer into the bedroom of the hotel suite. After almost a year, he still needed a wheel chair towards the end of the day. She took her stethoscope out and began to listen to his heartbeat.

"Your heartbeat sounds good, Mr. President. You'll be better in no time." Dr. Packard said, smiling.

"I told you to call me David, Anne. And, what would I do without you?" President Palmer asked.

Anne smiled. "You would do just fine with any other doctor."

"I don't believe that," David Palmer said.

Anne smiled and kissed him on the head. "I'll be in the next room if you need anything."

David held her hand, and let it slip away as she turned to go into the next room. He didn't know what he would do without her. Just as he was about to get himself into bed, he heard a knocking at the door.

"Come in." David said.

"Mr. President, Ryan Chappelle from CTU is on the line for you." Agent Pierce said.

"Thank you, Aaron." David said, taking the phone from him.

"Mr. Chappelle," David said. "What can I do for you?"

"Mr. President, I just wanted to let you know that we have been working under the assumption that the assassin whom attacked you last September is in Los Angeles. However, CTU has been unable to come up with any solid leads." Ryan said.

"That's unfortunate." David said bluntly.

"Uh, yes, yes it is, Mr. President." Ryan said with hesitation.

"Do we know why this assassin is in LA?" David asked.

"Sir, we're not sure. We don't even know if she's really here, we were working off of a tip that came in."

"A tip?" David asked.

"Yes, sir."

"From whom?"

"An informant of ours." Ryan said.

"Does this informant have a name, Mr. Chappelle?" David asked.

"Uh, yes sir, but under the circumsta-…" Ryan said, as he was cut off.

"The name, Mr. Chappelle." David ordered.

"Marie Warner."

President Palmer's heart froze. "Marie Warner?" he said in disbelief.

"Yes, sir."

"Do we know how this happened?" David asked.

"Sir, we believe she was making it up-…"

"Then why was it follow up?" Palmer asked rhetorically.

"Sir, it's protocol to-…" Ryan began.

"Yes, yes, I know all about protocol, Mr. Chappelle." David said bluntly.

"Sir, Marie Warner has not had any visitors while she's been in prison, not even from her own family." Ryan said.

"Yes, and?" David asked.

"Sir, we think she was making it up for her own entertainment." Ryan said.

"Yes, well, even if that's true, this woman is extremely dangerous, Mr. Chappelle. Threats from her are to be taken very seriously." David said.

"Yes, of course, sir." Ryan said.

"Thank you, Mr. Chappelle." David said, as he hung up the phone.

President Palmer was not so worried about the threats that were made against him so much, as the ones made against the American people. Though he was not concerned for his own well-being, he did not like the idea of Marie Warner making threats. He sighed, put the satellite phone down, and lied down to go to sleep.

#####

6:26pm

Marie Warner's chains grazed the concrete floor as her guards brought her back to her cell. She looked straight ahead, with a blank expression on her face, as they lead her into her cell.

"I'm going to unlock her chains," One of the guards said.

"I'll do it, Bernie. Go home and see your kids." The other guard said.

Bernie smiled and nodded his head, as the other guard moved towards Marie. Once the guard was out of sight, Marie sat on her cot and held her legs up, so the guard could unlock her ankle chains.

"I thought he'd never leave, Bill." Marie said, kissing the guard on the lips.

Though Bill was a correctional officer, he had never been found attractive to women, so he took anything he could get, even prisoners. Someone like Marie Warner didn't cross his path all the time, and when she started showing interest in him, he couldn't resist. Bill lied down on top of Marie and started kissing her.

"So, when?" Bill asked.

"8:55."Marie whispered into his ear.

Bill nodded and enjoyed what he had stayed for.

#####

6:32pm

Tony and Michelle pulled into their driveway. It had been a long day, and they were both tired. Tony was hoping Michelle was too tired to cook.

"Hey, how about we order a pizza in?" Tony suggested, as he turned the key in the lock.

"Sounds good, I'm too tired to cook anyways." Michelle said, walking into their home.

"Good," Tony muttered under his breath.

"What was that?" Michelle said, turning around, with an amused look on her face.

Tony pulled his wife in and kissed her. After a moment, she pulled back and smiled.

"I'm going to take a shower." Michelle said, heading upstairs.

"Yeah, I think I will too," Tony said, chasing her up the stairs.

Michelle squealed and threw a pillow at Tony's head.

"Hahaha, go order the pizza!" Michelle said, laughing.

"_Alright_," Tony said in a mock-defeated voice.

Michelle laughed as Tony jogged downstairs to the phone.

#####

6:40pm

Jack walked out of the bathroom in just a towel. Kate was standing in the kitchen, talking to Kim.

"Ahhh! Dad!" Kim said, shielding her eyes.

"Sorry, Baby," Jack said to Kim as he pulled Kate in for a kiss.

Kim put her hand up in front of Jack's face as she walked out of the room laughing.

"I missed you today." Kate said, hugging Jack.

"I know, I'm sorry. CTU pretty much owns me, I'll make it up to you." Jack said.

"That place is lucky to have you." Kate said, as Jack played with her hair. "And how, exactly, are you going to make it up to me?" Kate said, smirking.

"Why don't we go out to dinner?" Jack suggested.

"Okay." Kate smiled.

#####

6:47pm

Michelle came downstairs dressed in jeans and a shirt.

"I thought we were ordering in," Tony said, smiling.

"I changed my mind," Michelle said. "I want to go out to eat."

Tony rolled his eyes and laughed. "Give me a minute to get cleaned up."

Michelle smiled as Tony ran upstairs and took a shower. The phone rang, so she went over and picked it up.

"Hello?" Michelle answered.

"Be careful," A voice said, and then hung up.

"Who is this?" Michelle asked, but the line was already dead.

Michelle hung the phone up, and looked around suspiciously. That was definitely strange.

#####

6:50pm

Ryan Chappelle walked through the bottom floor of CTU. Most of the lights were dimmed, and there were only about ten people there to monitor any potential threats that may come in.

"Listen up everyone," Ryan said. "We have no new leads on this_ threat,_ but I want everyone on their toes until I say otherwise. We don't need another disaster or assassination attempt."

Chappelle walked towards the bullpen as Chloe approached him.

"Mr. Chappelle," Chloe said.

"What?"

"I just wanted to let you know that I agree with the decision you made to divide CTU." Chloe said.

Chappelle gave Chloe a weird look. "Thanks, but I didn't divide CTU. It was a decision that went through NSA…"

Chappelle started walking up the stairs, as Chloe loudly cleared her throat.

"_Something else_?" Chappelle asked annoyed.

"Well, though I appreciate your leadership in CTU I would like to express my concerns about the way Adam loads his flash drive on the IP scanner."

"Chloe, let me give you a small piece of advice. Go back to work, and mind your own business, or I'll be searching for your replacement." Chappelle said, walking up the stairs.

Chloe furrowed her eyebrows as Chappelle blew her off. Adam was standing two feet behind her with his hands on his hips.

"What was that about?" Adam asked in an annoyed tone.

"None of your business, Adam." Chloe said, bumping into his shoulder as she walked by him.

Adam rolled his eyes and made his way up to complain to Chappelle, but Chappelle came running down the stairs.

"EVERYONE! Stop what you're doing and listen! A bomb has just been set off in the hotel where Palmer is staying! I need you to call everyone in immediately! Come on, do it now!" Chappelle ordered.

Adam's eyes widened as he exchanged a nervous glance with Chloe. They both picked up phones and began dialing numbers furiously.

#####

6:58pm

Bill put the phone down as he sat next to Marie on the cot.

"What did he say?" Marie whispered, in a seductive voice.

"He believed me, he thought I was secret service." Bill said, enjoying Marie's affection.

"Good, now, call Omar and tell him to go ahead, he should already be in place. Remember, tell him to time it for exactly 8:55." Marie said.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Bill asked with hesitation.

Marie smiled at Bill "Don't you love me?"

"Of course," Bill said.

"Then do this for me, and I'll show you how much I love you." Marie said, pulling Bill back down on the cot.

Bill gave in, and let himself be pulled down. Marie smiled and laughed at the poor fool.

6:59:55…56…57…58…59…


	2. Chapter 2

**I DO NOT OWN THE RIGHTS TO 24. **

_The following takes place between 7pm and 8pm. _

Tony walked down the stairs and into the living room, where his wife was sitting on the couch. Michelle had the tip of the phone held to her lip and a perplexed expression on her face.

"Something wrong, Honey?" Tony asked in a concerned voice.

"Huh?" Michelle responded, breaking her concentration.

"What's wrong?" Tony said, repeated himself.

"Oh, oh, it's um, it's probably nothing, but someone just called. They said 'be careful' and then hung up, it was just strange."

"It was probably just a prank call, kids or something." Tony said, rubbing his wife's shoulder.

"Yeah, yeah, you're probably right." Michelle said, giving Tony a weak smile.

"Should we go?" Tony asked.

"Yeah, I can drive." Michelle said, grabbing the car keys out of Tony's hands.

Tony laughed as he followed his wife out of the house. They locked their door and headed out.

#####

7:08pm

"Chloe, did you get Almeida yet?" Ryan Chappelle yelled over to her in an annoyed voice.

"No, I'm trying his house now, but no one's answering." Chloe said, redialing the number.

"Well his cell phone, dammit, we don't have time for this." Chappelle said.

"I did, he's not answering!" Chloe said, starting to get agitated.

"Well then, _Chloe_, maybe you should try Michelle." Chappelle said in a sarcastic monotone voice.

"Oh, good idea!" Chloe said, dialing Michelle.

Chappelle dragged his face over his hand. How could he have some of the smartest people working for him when they lacked common sense?

"Hello?" Michelle said.

"Hi, Michelle, it's Chloe. Chappelle needs you and Tony to come in immediately."

"I see. Is he with you now?"

"Yeah, do you want to talk to him?"

"Yes."

"Mr. Chappelle, Michelle wants talk to you!" Chloe yelled from across the room.

"I'll take it over here," Chappelle said in an annoyed voice.

"Okay, I patched it through." Chloe said.

"Hi, Michelle. I need you and Tony in here now." Chappelle said.

"What's going on?" Michelle said.

"A secret service agent called in about 10 minutes ago. He reported a bomb going off in the hotel Palmer's staying at."

"Do you know-is it-is it real?" Michelle asked, starting to panic.

"He had the proper clearance, and he knew the specific hotel._ Obviously_, that information isn't just _given _out to the public." Chappelle said in an annoyed tone.

Chappelle heard noise in the background. He figured Tony was there as well.

"Ryan, what's going on?" Tony said into the phone.

"A bomb went off in-…" Chappelle started.

"Yeah, I got that, which hotel? Michelle and I will check it out." Tony said, cutting him off.

"You aren't field agents, I can't permit that." Chappelle said in a monotone voice.

"Ryan, we both have been out in the field, and if this is as serious as you make it sound, let us check it out." Tony said.

"The Moxey-Riddley Hotel on Woodland."

"Alright, we're in our car now, that's only about five miles from where we are. We'll check it out."

"Yeah, okay." Chappelle said.

Chappelle hung the phone up and walked over to Adam.

"How about Jack?"

"I can't reach him at his house or cell." Adam said.

"Ugh, dammit, this is what I get when I tell people to be reachable." Chappelle said, rubbing his head.

#####

7:14pm

Jack started the car and pulled out of his driveway. Kate sat next to him, staring out the window.

"I really am sorry," Jack said, giving Kate a sympathetic look.

"I know, Jack. You work for the government; I know it's your life." Kate said smiling.

"No, it's not. I care about you and Kim way more than I care about that job, it's just, well, I'm good at it." Jack said, smirking.

Kate laughed. "How very modest of you."

Jack scoffed and turned left as Kate's cell phone began to ring.

"Hello? Yeah, wait a sec." Kate said.

"It's for you…" Kate said in a depressed voice.

"Hello?" Jack said confused.

"Jack, its Ryan Chappelle, I need you to come in immediately."

"What's going on?" Jack asked.

"Just get in here, and please, for the love of God when I ask you to be reachable, I actually mean be reachable. I'm sick of going through everyone's girlfriend's phones to get in touch with people." Chappelle said, as he hung up the phone.

"CTU?" Kate asked.

"Yeah, I'm so sorry Kate but I-…"

"I know, you have to go in. Just drive there, I'll take the car back home." Kate said.

"Okay." Jack said. "I really am sorry."

"I know," Kate said, offering Jack a small smile.

#####

7:21pm

Omar Hassan pulled up to the CTU parking garage. He was in a white CTU issued maintenance van, with a uniform to match. He had killed Jim, the regular late shift maintenance attendant, taking his credentials and having them switched to fit his own.

"ID please?" The CTU security guard asked.

Omar handed the guard the credentials.

"Where's Jim?" The guard asked suspiciously.

"He's got the flu; one of his rugrats gave it to him. I think he said little Olivia came home with it the other day." Omar said convincingly.

The guard scoffed and handed back the ID. "I don't think I've seen you around before."

"You probably haven't. I work per-diem for the region. I only come in when someone calls out, which is usually in CTU San Francisco." Omar said.

"Okay, well you're all set. Just have your ID ready when you check in. You can park in any of the lots over there."

"Thank you." Omar said, smiling at the guard.

Omar parked in the garage away from where anyone could easily spot him. He pulled his tool box out and hid his gun in the back of his pants, where no one would see it. CTU had no idea what they were in for.

#####

7:26pm

Michelle pulled in to the parking lot of the hotel, and looked around with a confused expression.

"Are you sure he said the Moxey-Riddley?" Michelle asked.

"Yeah." Tony said as he dialed CTU on Michelle's cell phone.

"Chappelle." Chappelle said as he answered the phone.

"Yeah, Ryan, it's me. We're at the Moxey-Riddley right now. It doesn't look like any explosion has gone off here." Tony said.

"Nothing suspicious going on at all?" Chappelle asked.

"No, nothing from what I can see. Do you want us to go in and check it out?"

"You do that. And make sure you bring your ID's with you, unless you left those at home with your cell-…" Chappelle began to say, as Tony hung up his phone.

Tony rolled his eyes as Chappelle called Michelle's cell phone again. Tony turned it off and turned towards his wife.

"He wants us to check it out."

"Alright, let's go." Michelle said, unbuckling her seatbelt.

Tony grabbed Michelle's seatbelt as it started to retrieve back into the holder.

"I want you to stay in the car." Tony said sternly.

"Tony I can-…"

"I mean it, Michelle. It may have been a bogus threat, but it doesn't mean something isn't being planned. We don't have guns with us, I'm just going to inform Secret Service and come right out."

"Tony, I-…" Michelle began to say.

Tony kissed his wife on the cheek. "I'll be right out."

#####

7:33pm

Jack walked into CTU and looked around. The lights were no longer dimmed and it was starting to fill up fast.

"Jack, nice of you to show up." Chappelle said sarcastically.

"What's going on?" Jack said, ignoring his sarcasm.

"I got a tip about half an hour ago that a bomb went off in Palmer's hotel. I couldn't get through to any other Secret Service, and Tony and Michelle checked it out. No bomb went off. I'm assuming that something is going on, but I'm not sure what it is."

"Where are Tony and Michelle now?" Jack asked.

"The hotel." Chappelle answered.

"Alright, I'll set up a team and head down there." Jack said.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, Jack, what are you doing?" Chappelle interjected.

"Ryan, we have to do some sort of investigation. Now, if we bring our field agents down there, we can check the hotel and cover more ground. I'm curious if this tip was a diversion to lead Palmer out of the hotel so he would be more exposed." Jack explained.

"You think they're trying get Palmer for real this time?" Chappelle asked.

"It's possible. We won't know anything by standing around here." Jack said.

"Alright, take your team, Jack, sweep the hotel." Chappelle said.

Jack nodded and turned towards field ops.

"Oh, and Jack!" Chappelle yelled.

Jack turned around to look at Chappelle.

"Send Michelle back here, if you and Tony are going to be in the field, then I need her here working Com."

Jack nodded and headed towards the armory.

#####

7:41pm

President David Palmer lay in bed with his eyes open. He was exhausted, but he just couldn't sleep. Anna had instructed him to get to bed early to avoid stress, but he kept thinking about the threat Marie Warner had made. Though he wasn't concerned about himself so much, he knew what she was capable of. The last thing he needed was to deal with another crisis like the previous one involving the nuclear bomb.

David got up and took a shower. He brushed his teeth, got dressed in jeans and a button down shirt and headed out into the suite where his advisors were.

"David, David, David! You're supposed to be in a wheelchair!" Wayne Palmer yelled.

"I feel fine, Wayne." David said.

"Why aren't you sleeping, you're supposed to-…" Wayne Palmer began.

"Yes, thank you Wayne, I know what I'm supposed to do." David said irritably.

Just as David was arguing with his brother, he heard a knocking at the door.

"Come in." David instructed.

Aaron opened the door, looked inside, but did not enter.

"Mr. President, Tony Almeida from CTU is here to see you, he says it's urgent." Aaron said.

"Send him in." David said.

Tony walked in with two secret service agents. He stopped in front of the President, and the President waved the agents away.

"What can I do for you Mr. Almeida?" David asked.

"Mr. President, CTU got a call that there was an explosion in this hotel about an hour ago. My office was unable to get in touch with Secret Service." Tony said.

David furrowed his eyebrows. " What?"

"Sir, we believe that although the tip was false, there may still be a threat to your life." Tony said.

"I see. What are we going to do?" David said.

"Sir, if it's alright with you, we would like to keep you under heavy guard in this hotel. We're going to have a field team from CTU check the hotel and the perimeter, but we do not want to move you. We figured this may be a ploy to draw you out into the open."

"Alright, Mr. Almeida, I trust your people. Do what you have to do." David said.

"Thank you, Mr. President." Tony said.

#####

7:56pm

Marie and Bill lay under the covers of her cot. Marie waited anxiously for Bill to fall asleep, but he wasn't quite under just yet. She didn't want to kill him, not just yet. She may need him later. She snuck out of the cot, and put her clothes on, careful not to disturb Bill. His keys and satellite phone lay on top of his clothes, so she quietly grabbed them. He stirred in his sleep, so she held her shoes in her hand. At this time, the only guards in the prison would be in the east wing, and the rotating guard, which was Bill. If Marie was lucky, she would be able to walk out the back door without anyone noticing, but she would have to be careful on rooftop snipers when she got outside.

Marie grabbed Bill's key card and swiped it on the first set of doors. She walked out quickly, careful not to make much noise. When she looked out the back door, she spotted one sniper facing the east wing, so she cautiously walked out and kept near the wall. She spotted the bush covering the hole she had dug over a period of six months and stealthily jogged over to it. When she got to the thorny bush, she snuck into the hole and crept under the fence. The sniper had not seen her.

Marie jogged away from the prison and looked down the long stretch of road that leads to the city. With any luck, no one would spot her in her prison-issued clothes, and she would be able to hitch a ride from a lonely trucker. Marie looked at the prison in the distance and took off, staying near the tree line.

7:59:55…56…57…58…59


	3. Chapter 3

_The following takes place between 8:00pm and 9:00pm:_

Michelle tapped the steering wheel with her index fingers while she waited Tony to come out of the hotel. He was taking a long time, she considered going inside and seeing what all of the fuss was about. She sat in the driver's seat, yet looked out the passenger side's window to see if Tony was anywhere in sight. Just as she squinted her eyes towards the door, she jumped while the alarming sound of someone knocking on the window startled her. She turned her head and noticed it was Jack.

Michelle rolled the car window down, and noticed Jack was with a field team.

"Jack, what's-…." Michelle started to say.

"Sorry to alarm you, Michelle, Chappelle sent me down here with a team to run the search in the hotel. He wants you to go back to CTU and run Com." Jack said.

"Well, but Tony, I-…" Michelle said, being cutoff once again.

"Tony and I are going to run the search here; Chappelle wants you to run Com because Tony's going to be in the field temporarily." Jack said.

Michelle nodded and started the ignition. Without another word, or chance to be cut off, she rolled out of the parking lot and made her way back to CTU.

#####

8:07pm

Omar Hassan had gotten by both sets of guards that were securing CTU. This federal building was going to have to get better security. Hassan made his way through CTU's Com-unit before being stopped by Chappelle.

"Uh, excuse me, who are you?" Chappelle said, holding a hand up in front of Hassan.

"I am the maintenance man, they called me in, maybe it was you who called me in; to fix the phone lines…?" Hassan said convincingly.

"I haven't seen you before." Chappelle said suspiciously.

"No, you probably haven't. I only work per diem in the region. I usually don't get called to LA." Hassan said, his accent poking slightly through.

"Alright, go ahead." Chappelle said, waving Hassan through the main floor.

"Thank you." Hassan said smiling, and tipping his hat forward towards Chappelle.

Chappelle sat standing on the CTU logo on the main floor, watching Hassan go by. He put his hands on his hips, squinted his eyes and called Adam over.

"Adam," Chappelle said, in his monotone voice.

"Yeah?"

"Did you see that man that just walked through?"

"Yeah." Adam responded blandly.

"Watch him on the monitors; make sure he's doing what he's supposed to do."

Adam nodded and pulled up the security feed. Chloe gave Adam a cold stare; she believed that she should be the one keeping tabs on him.

"It looks like he's going to repair something in the mainframe." Adam said.

"Alright," Chappelle said. "Keep tabs on him until he leaves."

Adam nodded his head, while Chloe continued to give him a cold stare.

#####

8:19pm

Jack reached the floor that President Palmer was staying on; he had taken the stairs with half of his team, while the other half took various elevators and stairways to inspect the hotel. Jack walked over to the suite door, where he was greeted by Aaron Pierce.

"Mr. Bauer, you can go right in." Aaron said.

"Thank you." Jack said, wiping a bead of sweat from his forehead.

Jack opened the door and spotted Tony talking to President Palmer. When Palmer noticed Jack, he used all of his energy to get up and walk over to him.

"Jack," Palmer said, holding his hand out.

"Mr. President," Jack said, shaking Palmer's hand.

Palmer winced in pain as Jack shook his hand.

"Oh my God, Mr. President, I'm so sorry-…." Jack began to say.

Palmer held his good hand up and waved Jack's apologies aside. "You have nothing to be sorry for, Jack. Please, come take a seat."

Palmer motioned Jack to come sit down, and so he did. Tony clapped his hands together and gave Jack a flat smile.

"Hi, Jack. I was just telling the President that we want to keep him here unless we deem the threat serious enough to move him." Tony said.

"Okay. Mr. President, I would have to agree with Tony. Whoever made this threat may be trying to get you out into the open so you would be exposed. We feel that keeping you here is our safest option at the moment." Jack explained.

"Well, Jack, if that's what you think is best, then I'll stay here. I'll inform Secret Service to let you access anything you may need." Palmer said.

"Thank you, sir." Jack said.

Palmer stood up and walked towards his Secret Service agents. As he stood up, he winced in pain, but Jack didn't want to take his dignity by implying he couldn't stand up on his own. When Palmer was out of earshot, Jack looked at Tony.

"Tony, Chappelle called Michelle to CTU while we're in the field to run Com." Jack said.

Tony nodded his head. "Alright, then we better get started here. Is Chase with you?"

"Yeah he's with Castle and Clarkson in the basement. They're searching for anything unusual, but they haven't found anything yet."

Tony sighed deeply. "I'm not so sure they're going to find anything. I'm starting to think that this was a hoax."

"Maybe, but you know we have to run up any leads. I don't know if this was a hoax though, Tony. I'm wondering if something is going on that we're not seeing."

#####

8:30pm

Bill woke up from his nap on Marie's cot, she was gone. He looked around frantically, but it was no use, the cell was only 8x6 and she wasn't there. He got out of the cot and threw his clothes on, not caring that some of them were inside out. How far could she really have gotten though? It's not like she had his….oh no. Bill searched his pockets and realized that Marie had swiped his keys. His only chance now was to try to leave the prison like nothing was wrong, and then make a run for it. Bill had let a maximum security prisoner, a domestic terrorist loose. They would have his ass for this.

#####

8:35pm

Michelle walked onto the main CTU floor, where she noticed Chappelle talking to a new IT staff member. Chappelle looked at her, finished up his conversation and walked over to her.

"Thanks for coming." Chappelle said, in a slightly sarcastic yet monotone voice.

Michelle stared back at Chappelle. She had given up dinner and a night with her husband; she was not in the mood for Chappelle's personality. Michelle shifted, as if she were about to walk up into the bullpen when Chappelle stopped her.

"Let me just ask…do you think your attire is appropriate for work?" Chappelle asked with attitude.

Michelle squinted her eyes at him and looked down at her outfit. She was wearing jeans and a t-shirt.

"You called on short notice-…" Michelle began.

"I told you to be reachable."

"And I was…Did you expect me to lounge around in a business suit all day?" Michelle said, giving Chappelle attitude.

"Be careful, Michelle." Chappelle said, letting her walk up into her husband's office.

#####

8:42pm

Hassan had looped the security feed, because he knew someone would be watching him. Whoever was watching would see what looked like Hassan cutting wires to fix the phone circuit, when in reality, he was placing bombs in remote locations to destroy CTU's Com, and create an underground passageway for members of his terror cell to come through. He had planned to take over CTU with Marie Warner, and though she wasn't there, she was expecting him to carry out her orders.

Hassan had rigged four bombs to go off at exactly 8:55pm, and he wanted to be far enough from the building so he wouldn't be injured from the blast, but close enough to the building that he would be able to re-enter it when CTU was hit. He planned to use the sewer as cover while CTU was hit, and cause enough damage that he would be able to walk in with his team and do anything he wanted.

#####

8:46pm

Marie Warner stayed close to the tree line as she jogged away from the prison. If the other guards hadn't noticed she was gone yet, they would soon, especially if Bill had a surge of conscience. Though it was getting dark, Marie's bright orange jumpsuit would be a dead giveaway to anyone driving by, so she took cover in the trees.

When Marie was positive that no one was around, she pulled her jumpsuit off to rip the pants off the rest of the suit. She used her undershirt as a top and folded the pants into caprise, ditching the rest of the jumpsuit. This way, she would be a complete giveaway.

#####

8:50pm

Michelle sat at her husband's desk, trying to replay the audio that the alleged Secret Service had sent in. She was getting nowhere, and was becoming increasingly frustrated on Chappelle checking in on her every few minutes. Just as she was about to give up, she saw Chloe jogging up the stairs with papers in her hand.

"Michelle, sorry to bother you, but I think you need to take a look at this." Chloe said with a concerned look on her face.

"What is it, Chloe?" Michelle asked, reaching forward to take the papers.

"I unscrambled the data from the call we received about the hit on Palmer, and the call came from the LA Penitentiary."

"Okay…so we know the call was made from inside the prison?" Michelle asked, still confused.

"Yeah, and that's not all. The call was made from the same prison that's holding Marie Warner." Chloe said, furrowing her eyebrows.

"Marie Warner?" Michelle said, standing up. "She's in Guantanamo."

"She was, but she was transferred to Los Angeles about three months ago for her trial. They're giving her a _civilian_ trial, and apparently it's supposed to be a need-to know."

Michelle took a deep breath. "Okay, thank you Chloe."

Chloe gave Michelle a concerned look and walked back down to her station. She managed to get into a bickering fest with Adam again; but Michelle had more important things to worry about. She picked up her phone and dialed Jack's cell.

"Bauer." Jack answered.

"Jack, its Michelle, is Tony there with you?"

"Yeah, do you want to talk to him?" Jack asked.

"This is something you both need to hear. Can you get to a secure room where we won't be overheard?" Michelle asked.

"Hold on a sec," Jack said.

Michelle heard shuffling in the background and a door closing, followed by silence.

"Michelle, it's me, I'm with Jack, what's going on?" Tony asked.

8:54:55….

"Tony, the call that came in, it's from the same-…." Michelle was cutoff.

A huge blast radiated CTU, along with three other blasts. Michelle was thrown to the floor, the phone bouncing out of her hand and being crushed by plaster that came raining down. Employees on the main floor ducked and covered their heads as chunks of concrete came tumbling down.

#####

8:56pm

"Michelle? MICHELLE?!" Tony yelled into the phone.

Tony had heard a huge "_bang_" followed by static, and a dead phone line. Jack looked at Tony with confusion.

"Something's happened at CTU, we gotta get over there, now!" Tony said, anxiety clearly in his voice.

Jack followed Tony out of the room and into the suite. It was starting to make sense now.

#####

8:58pm

Michelle pulled a piece of concrete from her hair, as she tried to adjust her eyes to the dusty office. The office was lopsided; the foundation had obviously been damaged. Michelle brought her hand to her head; she was bleeding profusely from a cut she received above her eyebrow. She felt dizzy, grabbed onto the desk which had tipped over. She jumped when she heard automatic gunfire coming from below her.

"Listen up, if you resist in any way, you will be killed. Do not attempt in any way to signal for help!"

8:59:55…56…57…58…59…

_Comments and reviews are appreciated, and will result in early release of the next chapter! _


	4. Chapter 4

_**The following takes place between 9pm and 10pm**_

Jack and Tony raced to one of their field vehicles in the parking lot and made their way to CTU. They were beginning to put the pieces together; whomever had invaded CTU had made the threat against the president. Any threat against Palmer would require their immediate attention, and therefore distract them away from the real threat. Jack sped through downtown Los Angeles as Tony touched his fingertips to his forehead. He didn't say anything, but Jack could tell he was worried about Michelle.

"How do you want to go about this?" Jack asked, breaking the silence.

"Huh?" Tony asked, half-listening.

"If imposters have invaded CTU, how do you want to enter? We most likely won't be able to go through the front gates." Jack said calmly.

"There isn't any way to get in if that's the case," Tony snapped.

"We might be able to try the roof," Jack said. "If they've invaded, it'll most likely be through the entrance or drainpipes. If we get there in time, we may be able to go through the roof.

"And how do you suppose we'll do that Jack? Should we throw a rope up and climb to the top?" Tony said, snapping once again.

Jack gave Tony a cold look. "Tony, look, I know your worried about Michelle, but we need to figure out a way to get inside. You won't be able to help her from outside."

"I'm sorry- I just-," Tony began.

"I know, I know, I've been there, Tony, just try to think clearly. That's the only way you can really be of any help."

Jack swerved into the parking lot of a building down the street from CTU. He noticed that there was smoke billowing from the rooftop and windows of CTU, and several fire trucks and police cars were parked outside. Jack and Tony ran up to the nearest LAPD officer to see what was going on.

"I'm Agent Bauer, this is Agent Almeida, we work at CTU, what's going on?" Jack asked the officer.

"We're not completely sure. Reports of several explosions and gunfire have been issued; so far no one has been inside." The officer said.

"Are there any fatalities or casualties?" Tony asked.

"We don't know; as I said, no one has been inside. We have been ordered to stand down until further orders. We don't know what we're dealing with." The officer said, wiping a bead of sweat from his forehead.

Tony exchanged glances with Jack and pulled him aside. "Jack, maybe we can use one of those fire ladders to get onto the roof."

Jack nodded as he approached the fire officer in charge. He was yelling into the radio, and ordering everyone to back up.

"Excuse me," Jack said to the firefighter.

"EVERYONE BACK UP, BACK UP NOW!" The firefighter yelled, ignoring Jack.

"_Excuse me_," Jack said once again.

"_Can I help you_?" The firefighter asked.

"I'm federal agent Jack Bauer and this is Tony Almeida. We need to get into CTU immediately."

"Not going to happen. So far, we received reports of four explosions and gunfire coming from this building, we don't know what's in there and we don't know how stable the building is."

"Listen," Jack said.

"No, you listen! We have been ordered to stand down and I'm not going to put my men or the people in the building at risk!" The firefighter yelled.

"Listen, my wife is in there!" Tony yelled, getting in the firefighter's face.

"I'm sorry, really, but there's nothing I can do." The firefighter said, turning away and talking into his radio again.

#####

9:19pm

Michelle opened her eyes to the dark, dusty room and looked down below. She was covered in bricks and concrete, and she was bleeding heavily from her eyebrow. She was afraid to move, in fear that she would be discovered if she made any noise. She elbowed her way to the edge of the office carefully, for the foundation was compromised and lopsided. She looked down to see Chloe, Adam, and many other analysts being held hostage by armed men.

Michelle carefully backed up and got onto her knees. She peered around and crawled on her hands and knees to the other side of the office, cutting her hand on broken glass from a broken picture frame on the floor. The glass window was shattered, so she crawled through the open window and into the bullpen. She carefully crawled to the opposite side of the upstairs, holding her breath and careful to not make any sudden movements or noise. When she made it to the other side, and was out of sight and surrounded by concrete walls, she stood up and quickly tried to make her way to Com Room 2D. If the satellite phone wasn't damaged, she would be able to let Jack and Tony and the other field agents know what was going on inside.

As Michelle carefully made her way down the hall, she heard yelling coming from one of the adjacent rooms. She slid against the wall and peeked over the doorframe, to see Chappelle being interrogated by an imposter. From what she could tell, he was alone, but she still wasn't armed. She nervously looked around the hallway to see if there was anything she could use. Spotting a broken brick, she picked it up, closed her eyes, and took a deep breath. She peeked around the corner once again to see the imposter's back towards her, and she crept up behind him and struck him with the brick to the back of the head.

The imposter fell forward, hitting the ground with a thump, as Chappelle looked at Michelle with bewilderment.

"Michelle!" Chappelle said loudly.

"We need to get to Com 2D," Michelle said softly. "It may be our only chance to reach our outside agents."

"No, we need to get out of here," Chappelle said. "There are men everywhere, some of them on this floor. We need to head to the roof."

"But-," Michelle said.

"There's nothing we can do for anyone if we're dead," Chappelle said.

"You head to the roof, Sir. I'm going to try to get to Com 2D."

"No, you're coming with me to the roof, and that's an order!" Chappelle ordered.

"That's an order I can't obey. Chloe and the other techs are down there, not to mention our mainframe is open to these terrorists. I need to try and reach Jack or Tony." Michelle said.

Chappelle nodded his head and made his way to the door. "Mr. Chappelle, wait." Michelle said, pulling the weapon from the terrorist. "Here, take it. You might need it."

"What about you?" Chappelle asked.

"I'll be okay."

Chappelle nodded and left the room, not bothering to thank Michelle for saving him. He carefully made his way towards the roof, as Michelle made her way to Com 2D. When Michelle reached Com, she heard gunfire coming from the roof staircase. She took a deep breath, unplugged the main hard drive, and destroyed it. She spotted the satellite phone among some rubble, and quickly grabbed it, when she heard footsteps coming from the hallway. She quickly stood on one of the desks, and climbed into an air vent, trying to be as quiet as possible.

#####

9:32pm

Jack and Tony walked around CTU to look for an alternative entrance. So far, there was nothing, until Jack saw something on the roof. He pointed his weapon at the figure, until he noticed it was Ryan Chappelle.

"What is it?" Tony asked.

"It's Chappelle," Jack said, running towards the front of the building.

When Tony and Jack reached the front, the head firefighter was sending a ladder to the roof. Jack and Tony pushed by many people; climbing onto the ladder and passing Chappelle.

"What happened?" Tony yelled.

"Someone hit us, imposters, I don't know what they want!" Chappelle yelled back.

"Ryan," Tony said. "Is Michelle alive?"

"She was when I saw her," Ryan said, clutching his arm. "But they nicked me in the arm with a bullet. They're everywhere!"

"What do you mean when you saw her?" Tony asked suspiciously.

"She was headed to Com D2."

"And you let her go alone?" Tony yelled.

"She wouldn't listen to me," Chappelle said.

Tony and Jack exchanged glances and headed to the roof. Tony looked back to see Chappelle being rushed into an ambulance.

"I can't believe that son of a bitch let Michelle go by herself." Tony said frustrated.

"He's looking out for his own ass; but he said Michelle's alive. We'll find her Tony." Jack tried to say convincingly.

Jack opened the door to the roof as Tony covered his back. They descended down the stairs cautiously, stumbling upon two bodies as they walked down to the second floor.

"Looks like they're the ones who took over CTU," Tony said. "Did Chappelle do this?"

Jack nodded and was about to reply when he heard a sound coming from the corridor. He motioned for Tony to stand against the wall as voices passed them.

"_Kinling, Amaro, and Kindle are down. Hassan also said that there's interference with the mainframe hard drive; he thinks someone is tampering with it." A voice said. _

_ "We checked the floors three times; everyone is either rounded up downstairs or dead." _

_ "Better check again; you don't want to piss Hassan off." _

The voices passed and Jack motioned for Tony to open the door. "If they find her, Jack, they're going to kill her."

#####

9:50pm

Marie Warner stepped into the motel room that Hassan had left for her. She found the key in the car he had left for her. Going into the motel room, she cleaned up and dyed her hair dark brown, so she would not be recognized. Changing into civilian clothes, she found the phone that Hassan had left her. She dialed his number and waited impatiently until he picked up.

"Everything alright?" Hassan asked.

"Yeah, everything's fine. When is she getting here?" Marie asked.

"Within the hour," Hassan said.

"Good. What's going on at CTU?"

"Everything's going as planned. Nina will be there soon, so don't go anywhere."

9:59:56….57…58…59…


End file.
